This is a rant. And a mild one at that as I have opted not to name names. But if you don’t like rants, then simply don’t read beyond this first line.

This morning, I was at a large grocery I frequent precisely because I believe that their standards of hygiene are closer to first world standards (chilled butchery area, boots and proper clothing, hair covering, stainless work surfaces, good packaging, etc.). As I stood in front of the chilled section displaying cut and packaged chicken parts, a man beside me started poking packages of chicken, intentionally puncturing the plastic wrap, touching several pieces of chicken parts within each package, bringing it close to his face to smell the chicken, and for some arbitrary reason, returned several of the packages after mauling and contaminating them with his bacteria, back into the chilled section for some other customer to come across. He had many packages in his cart, and was obviously buying in bulk, probably for a restaurant. I would understand such behavior in a wet market, perhaps, but in a grocery where the chicken is clearly under plastic wrap?!? It was obnoxious to say the least. As I observed him doing this, not once, twice but three times, I decided to speak up and said to him directly, as he had his paws inside one package, something to this effect, in a rather calm tone, “I would appreciate it if you didn’t punch holes in the plastic and contaminate the chicken with your germs AND THEN put it back in the chiller.” I translated that into Pilipino as well, in case he hadn’t understood me. He just glared at me, and had he stopped there, I would have let any further confrontation go. But no, punch holes into a fourth, fifth and sixth package of chicken he continued on, leaving half a dozen (possibly more) packages punctured in the chilled section, right around me as I tried to buy my own chicken parts. I thought that was simply outrageous! First of all, it displays a complete disregard for hygiene, and other customers could very possibly end up buying the meat. Now I realize that one could just as easily scream back at me that the buyer should beware, and that they can wash their meats at home if they like — but it’s the principle of the thing, the callous disregard of other shoppers’ welfare, the gall of continuing on even after some other person has pointed out that perhaps the practice wasn’t appropriate. At that point, I asked one of the butchery staff to call a supervisor and eventually I spoke to the assistant warehouse manager on duty, as no one more senior was available.

I explained what happened and asked them if their staff, many of whom were just standing around while I pointed out the gentleman fondling the chicken parts, should tolerate this kind of behavior… I also asked if this was acceptable for the grocery’s management, as it had potential repercussions for how other customers would view the food handling standards of the grocery. After a brief discussion, the assistant manager finally approached the offending party(ies) now at the checkout counter and the man who did the poking disappeared first to the bathroom, then snuck out of the store, leaving his two male shopping companions to explain that it wasn’t them who did the “chicken poking”. If he didn’t do anything wrong, why did he have to hide? Other customers approached me and the assistant manager to confirm who the people were, and yes, in fact they were doing something that was simply considered unacceptable. They said the guys worked for a restaurant. And lo and behold, in black t-shirt, one of them had the name of the restaurant in white letters clear across his shirt (of course they could have been wearing a t-shirt of a previous employer). Worse, I REALLY LIKE that small group of restaurants, and I can name their owner, so I was particularly flummoxed why these guys would behave in such a manner in a public place probably WEARING THE NAME of their place of WORK. How utterly dumb is that?

As the manager and I were discussing the incident, it became obvious that either the meat would have to be thrown out to meet handling standards consistent with the parent company (rather than simply re-covered in plastic and returned to the chillers for unsuspecting folks to buy) or the offending parties should be asked to purchase the meat. But they claimed they didn’t have enough money so they couldn’t buy all that chicken and the assistant manager took their number instead and said she would call their offices later in the day to discuss how to settle the matter.

Now I realize this has very little to do with the restaurant, but rather with an individual (buyer?) working for them, hence I have left out the restaurant’s name from this post. I will send the restaurant/owner an email to tell him to read this post so he can decide if he wants to do anything about it, if those folks were indeed his staff members shopping at the grocery at about 11:15am on Tuesday morning. I will also copy my email to senior management at the store, to ensure that the assistant manager does indeed take corrective action in future. I have left out the name of the store, because they didn’t cause the incident to happen, and were, in fact, the folks whose chicken was manhandled. Now I realize one could, and most would, simply ignore this incident. But I couldn’t and didn’t. And all I can say is, please do not fondle, grope, smell and contaminate my chicken parts, thank you.

Note: the photo above was taken at home, to illustrate what was done, not to make it seem that I managed to catch a photo of the offender in the middle of his deed…

In case you are curious and look up FDA standards for purchasing chilled poultry in U.S. groceries (I haven’t found equivalent rules for the Philippines), see this link, and I quote: “Never choose meat or poultry in packaging that is torn or leaking”…

COMMENTS:

Tricia
says:

I have a feeling this is the same grocery I go to to buy my chicken. I’ll be horrified too if I saw him doing this!!! And to think I go to _&_ for the chicken I use to be eaten by my kids. Please let us know what the restaurant would say about their staff’s doing.

Jan 3, 2012 | 9:42 pm

Mimi
says:

When my son was around 5-7 years old, whenever he did this plastic poking playing while I was doing my grocery shopping, I would shout his name and call his attention, then I would be making sermon about how kadiri it was! I would then have to buy the packages of meat (chicken or pork) which has his finger holes! I personally felt responsible as he is my son and he already “manhandled” the items. It’s like the “nice to look at, nice to hold, once you break it, consider it sold” signs.
So I am disgusted that a grown man was doing what an unruly child would do!

Jan 3, 2012 | 10:19 pm

natie
says:

HAH!!!! First ‘fishpan’ awardee of the year…the nerve!!!!

Jan 3, 2012 | 10:20 pm

Vicky
says:

I also experienced this same situation, in a very popular food chain, the woman in front of me wants her chicken to be replace for a much bigger part, she is poking the buttered chicken using her fingers while saying to the cashier that she wants it replace. The cashier did not notice it right away since she is also preparing for the other orders. The woman is much older than me, she seems to be a mother already! Hay, very disgusting, knowing that chicken will be serve to another customer.

Jan 3, 2012 | 11:06 pm

Cyrus
says:

Nakakahiya! Anu ba yan!

Jan 4, 2012 | 12:03 am

Wild Fig
says:

That is completely disgusting, inconsiderate and inexcusable – regardless of whether it was a resto employee or consumer who broke the packaging. Not only does breaking the packaging and poking the meat product introduce bacteria to meat, but it also makes the “poker”, susceptible to cross contamination. Worse, if the offender was in fact a resto employee, if they did not wash their hands properly afterwards, he potentially could have compromised the health of his coworkers and patrons.

Jan 4, 2012 | 2:28 am

jen888rn
says:

I just hope this guy will get chicken related Salmonella – or Food Poisoning.

Jan 4, 2012 | 3:30 am

tonceq
says:

Since you’ve already met Mr. Drumstick Von Fondle, why don’t you traipse over to the Veggie section (whether refrigerated or not) to see his companion, Mr. Squeeze My Eggplant. You really get these people from time to time, let’s just hope they’re a dying breed. :)

Jan 4, 2012 | 3:51 am

KC
says:

“Now I realize one could, and most would, simply ignore this incident. But I couldn’t and didn’t.” — THANK YOU!

Jan 4, 2012 | 5:01 am

netoy
says:

Thank you for speaking out.

I agree, please keep us updated on what happened next.

Jan 4, 2012 | 6:19 am

Trish
says:

How disgusting!! Not only are they contaminating the chicken- they are also spreading that chicken juice- possibly spreading salmonella! Yes, thank you for speaking out! Something most people won’t do!

Jan 4, 2012 | 7:34 am

linda
says:

MM, I really admire you for your concern and for speaking up. Pity you couldn’t deck the idiot!

Jan 4, 2012 | 8:23 am

Betchay
says:

And on the 3rd day of the year 2012……we have our 1st awardee!!!! :) Totally agree!!!!!

Jan 4, 2012 | 8:36 am

tnm
says:

I would have exactly said the same thing and would’ve made “sumbong” to the establishment as well. Common decency and courtesy has gone out the window. As my mother would say “kulang sa urbanidad”.

Jan 4, 2012 | 8:55 am

Mike
says:

He should have been apprehended, wrapped in transparent plastic then poked, poked, poked, and poked.

Wonder how he’ll feel afterward :)

Jan 4, 2012 | 9:16 am

acid
says:

this country needs more people like you… people who are vocal about their displeasure at something rather than being quiet and just roll their eyes with disgust then move on. passiveness when seeing something wrong promotes mediocrity, and this country is now a hotbed of mediocrity unless each and everyone of us learn to speak up. good job!

Jan 4, 2012 | 9:30 am

ami
says:

Kudos MM for calling attention to the guy molesting the chickens. So sad that a lot of pinoys nowadays are so inconsiderate of other people.
Reminds me of an incident wherein I saw a foreigner (korean/chinese/japanese?) in a supermarket approach a stack of softdrink bottles, twist open the cap of one of the bottles then closed it then walked away. May sayad ata sya. Unfortunately I was too young back then to speak up and report the guy.

Jan 4, 2012 | 9:38 am

Rebecca
says:

Tonceq- that was damn funny!

Jan 4, 2012 | 9:43 am

pepeng kaliwete
says:

I’m with you MM! Hate to say that it’s a common thing here. Carelessness, utter disregard of others & just plainly being”baboy”. On the side of the offended party, in this case the supermarket, the staff has no guts to say anything(“Pabayaan mo na” attitude). I hope things can still change. I hope people learn from your example. Kung sa akin mangyari yan, ang sasabihin ko lang”Manong, wag mong butas butasin yung plastic ng manok, baka butasin ko yang bumbunan mo”(hehe, how i wish!). Hapi New Year!

Jan 4, 2012 | 9:57 am

atbnorge
says:

Pardon for recalling the monicker, sir—MM the JM (jerk magnet) strikes again, and so early in the year!

Jan 4, 2012 | 9:58 am

melanie
says:

So glad and thankful for the ‘rant’…may it make ‘brave hearts’ out of all of us to do the same when we encounter such incidents, and do our share in changing things in our country in our own little way. Can you imagine what we could achieve if EVERYONE tried to right the wrongs of each day? Keep inspiring us,MM.

Jan 4, 2012 | 10:35 am

Zerho
says:

Ill-manered and hard-headed oaf! And he knew he was doing something wrong since he escaped, he just thought he could get away with it. Good thing you were there sir Marketman.

Jan 4, 2012 | 10:52 am

passive.observer
says:

i had a similar incident but this one concerns a doughnut shop. a family of four (with two kids) bought 6 fancy doughnuts and since there was a promo at that time they got 6 more. they took their lot to their table, although the doughnuts were in a box, ate in the store. Mid-way into their meal, the mother got up from the table and returned (!) the four left over doughnuts to the counter and have them exchanged for other flavors. i stayed a while to see what the staff would do about the returned goods, and lo and behold, the returned doughnuts were re-placed back in the display are for other customers to pick! gross no? made it a point never to buy from that doughnut shop again.

Jan 4, 2012 | 10:56 am

Bong
says:

Thank you for confronting the chicken fondler… I hope he learned his lesson!

Jan 4, 2012 | 11:00 am

Kanela
says:

At a supermarket not necessarily known for their hygienic standards (clue: their real estate development arm is also not known for their concern about the impact their developments have on the environment), I walked by the fresh chicken counter and a butcher with a bad cold was blowing his nose into his bare hands and wiping it on his apron. ALL the management level people were supposedly at a meeting. The butcher stared at me blankly as I ranted on about germs, etc.

I really believe that customer service here is not to provide service, but is a first line of defense between customers and management.

Jan 4, 2012 | 11:14 am

uniok
says:

MM, its nice to influence other people or the society. Why not take it to higher level.. For us OFW, its hard for us to watch news from Global channels featuring poor Filipinos. From a korean KBS to Japanese NHK to AL Jazeera, BBC/CNN..etc.
These are the words you usually hear, Shanty, Slum, domestic worker. Talaga ba namang pinagpi-fiestahan ang Pilipinas…
Kung pinahinog lamang ni Ninoy si Marcos at Hinayaang naging First world ang Pilipinas..Malamang Mas mayaman Tayo at tinitingala ng Malaysia at Singapore..Ang nakakawalang ng pag asa eh nauungusan na tayo ng Vietnam..Thailand…
Sometimes I want to blame the Chinese, the politician, Cardinal Sin. Pero hindi eh.. They are the one running our banks..our economy..our government…
The ff are my dreams MM, maybe you can pursuade them to invest in kind of fields..The pre- requisit to be an industrialized country
1. San Miguel Engineering ( Sarap gawan ng Logo)
2. Ayala Automotives or Zobel Motors
3. Gokongwei Electronics
4. Sy Corporation
5. Tan Heavy Industries

Ever seen their delivery vans, some open-sided? Ever seen the way they unload the open trays, placed on the pavement and made to sit while waiting for the cart guy to bring them in (while other vans and trucks come and go delivering other stuff like shoes and hardware stuff)? Notice how the trays are only covered by the tray above it, with the sides open? I do, I own a mall business and pass through the delivery bays every day.

Bravo MM what that guy did is disgusting. an update of this post if anything comes out of this would be appreciated. I admire your patience in such matters, i would have blown my top from the very beginning!

Jan 4, 2012 | 3:12 pm

Manny Alcabao
says:

Thanks for putting your foot down and making a stand to what most people would have just pass up! You make this country a better place to live in…

Jan 4, 2012 | 4:37 pm

PITS, MANILA
says:

as soon as you said it was a rant, i had to read it. and thank you for asserting, i appreciate it! they should be made to purchase every single sealed package the idiot contaminated.

Jan 4, 2012 | 4:52 pm

SD
says:

Restaurants should ensure the staff they hire are familliar with HACCP practices, or at least know that the letters stand for.

Jan 4, 2012 | 5:07 pm

Constant Reader
says:

Speak up! Whenever people do something that is offensive (or in this guy’s case something potentially dangerous for others) you are right to speak up. And you have our thanks for doing so.

Jan 4, 2012 | 5:27 pm

jr peralejo
says:

i work at a poultry processing plant and we are really strict with the way our products are handled because chicken is highly susceptible to salmonella and other airborne viruses/bacteria. i doubt if restaurants know haccp (hazard awareness critical control points) procedures or practice them as well, all i know is they practice fifo (first in first out) para hindi masiraan.

Jan 4, 2012 | 6:35 pm

sister
says:

Relax, none of you eat RAW chicken.
Granted that no one should be poking holes in packaged chicken there are more worrisome and unseen unsafe food handling, specially of ready to eat products.

Jan 4, 2012 | 8:02 pm

Migs
says:

Poking products, by an adult, is a very disturbing and inconsiderate action. That man needs somebody to make him realize that what he did is wrong. Elevating this matter to his superior was the right thing to do. You did the right thing MM. Sometimes pride makes it difficult for us to accept the truth and change, but if performance evaluation is at stake, I’m sure he’ll respond properly.

The supermarket management, on the other hand, should include in the company’s orientation program basic HACCP (should also include contractual employees). It’s not a nice feeling that it took one customer to attempt to stop the manhandling of a product because supermarket personnel did not act on it promptly (for lack of knowledge on sanitation/hygiene concerns?).

If he does it on raw products, most likely he does it also on ready to eat products. Sigh.

Jan 4, 2012 | 11:28 pm

rosedmd
says:

MM, you are correct no one has the right to poke those chicken, unless he buys it!!! i want to share what i witnessed last dec 31, 2011 at a singaporean place selling coffee , breads, chix, noodle meals. it has this popular bakery on the front part of the resto. i saw a foreigner and a pinay walk in look at the pastries, breads and menu board. they asked the staff if they have cappuccino. the girl said none, they sell singaporean products. the couple went out, on the way out the old man stop at the staff and said something and hand gesturing. as i understand from his hand gestures.( he was telling or asking the staff, how come the breads are exposed no cover.) he placed his hand in his mouth and motioning it from his mouth to where the breads are. since the breads are not covered, what is customers talk while choosing their pastries/ breads, it is possible their saliva can contaminate the breads. VERY POSSIBLE. Because, after they left, another couple came in, the man was on his cellphone talking full force, while telling his wife which bread to get. then, after a few minutes he kept yakking on the phone while he is in front of all those breads!!! YUCKY!!! i never want to buys floss from there anymore. i even told the staff the old man has a point they should cover their breads for sanitation.

Jan 5, 2012 | 12:06 am

rosedmd
says:

MM, i hope sanitation should be observe not only in handling chix or raw meat. but , also breads and pastries. a popular floss bread store, sells their breads well exposed for the customers to choose AND ALSO FOR THEIR SALIVA TO CONTAMINATE IT.

Jan 5, 2012 | 12:09 am

rosedmd
says:

goodthing for you, the staff assisted you , when a foreigner commented about how the breads are exposed and it is possible that the saliva of customer can spread on them if the are talking while choosing their pastries. the staff just said , that’s the design of all their branches.WHAT??? she could have said , i will let the management know about your concern, blah blah blah. i also witness, someone talking on his phone loudly in front of those dear floss. oh, i am sure they got their doze of saliva. i will never buy from that store anymore.

Jan 5, 2012 | 12:16 am

Lalaine
says:

While living in Baguio City for more than a year, the cashiers in sm grocery really grossed me out that i almost shouted at her. She uses a wet and DIRTY (with gazillion bacteria) towel to wipe the the counter before i place my items at the counter. with the same hands she swipes my items across the bar code reader. then takes my credit card, gives it back to me, hands me a pen and so on, bagger touches the towel to wet hands to open the sando bags… Haaay sobrang kadiri. And how about this one, the security guard in Chocolate Lovers, eagerly helps the cashier to bag the items i bought. Having difficulty opening the plastic bags, he LICKS his thumb and uses it to open the bag and hand it to me. I never bought from them again. Or if I ever have to in the future, I will bag my purchases my self.

Some people are brazen ,ignorant or simply thick in the face to do such a despicable deed. They ought to be told off, really.

Jan 5, 2012 | 1:46 am

Mandy
says:

Not only chickens, but also fruit. Countless times, I have seen apples on a pile that have nail marks on it. Customers poke the fruit to see if it’s firm or nice and then pick up another one to buy that is unpoked! How gross is that, having someone nail-cheese imbedded in your apple/pear/etc!!!

Jan 5, 2012 | 2:07 am

Getter Dragon 1
says:

Lol…another example of the ignorance we (dont have to) tolerate in our culture.

Jan 5, 2012 | 2:46 am

michelle h.
says:

Lalaine, I have a similar rant about the hygiene at the cashiers of S&R. I’m mentioning the name of the establishment hoping they will see this post and take action. Hygiene at the cashier stations is non-existent! They handle bloody or wet meat/poultry and seafood items for scanning and packing, and then they handle the customer’s cards without sanitizing their hands. Yuck. And what about all the germs that get transferred to the packaging of other food items like wrapped butter? The conveyor belts get pretty disgusting too. Only once have I ever seen a cashier make an attempt to clean her hands, and that was with a small bottle of hand sanitizer that she said was her personal property and not provided by the store. I’ve called the attention of the cashiers repeatedly, sometimes in the presence of a supervisor or manager, and nothing has been done about it.

I’m sure this happens in many groceries, but I notice it particularly at S&R because that’s where I buy my meat and poultry, expecting better hygiene standards from them.

Jan 5, 2012 | 4:20 am

Lalaine
says:

Michelle h, I am almost bent to believe they do not have any standard at all. Managers and supervisors would just apologize, knod and knod and just give lip service. Pretty stupid really. Can you imagine buying a bag of chips and then eating it with the same fingers you used to open and hold it? tsk… tsk…

Jan 5, 2012 | 8:10 am

joanie
says:

the poll related to this post shows 2 people selected “Yes, perfectly appropriate, nothing wrong with that”. I’d like to know the reasoning behind that answer. Why is it OK?

Jan 5, 2012 | 8:50 am

Elaine
says:

Ditto @ sister..

Jan 5, 2012 | 9:06 am

Ellen
says:

Thank you Marketman for being the louder voice for consumers like me. The man you encountered is so arrogant and he really needs to be put in his place.

Jan 5, 2012 | 9:14 am

Joyce
says:

That is disgusting…the man should have paid for all the packages he poked………..

Thank you, MM, for speaking out. I admire how calm you were and how you had the presence of mind to call attention to the right people. In the same situation, I just might have humiliated the guy and shown rage. I do hope that guy and his team learned his lesson, and that the grocery would also be more alert in preventing such things from happening. Di keep us posted, and let us know if you need any support/help to teaching these guys a lesson.

Jan 5, 2012 | 10:44 pm

Heidi
says:

I recently saw a guy weighing himself on the meat scale at s and r!

Jan 6, 2012 | 4:48 am

Footloose
says:

To Millet’s recollection of an old dressed chicken ad with Silvia La Torre reminding everyone that, “di na kailangang kurut-kurutin, pisil-pisilin at amuy-amuyin pa,” my story of this lady who rejected the dressed chickens she picked up after subjecting them to the same battery of tests under the annoyed gaze of the owner who simply told her, “lady I don’t think you’d pass the same test either.”

WELCOME BACK, FOOTLOOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! …missed your comments….I was having a Footloose withdrawal for such a looooong time!

Jan 6, 2012 | 8:55 am

millet
says:

HAHAHA…footloose, you remembered! and yes, bettyq, i’ve been looking for footloose, too!

Jan 6, 2012 | 9:26 am

peg
says:

Oh wow, a post from Footloose!!! Great to hear from you again.

Jan 6, 2012 | 10:24 am

Carol
says:

Hi Ms. betty, kindly see the email I sent you a week or so ago. I now have your palayok in Manila. Is your nephew still coming to town? (thanks, MM, for the space! :)

Jan 6, 2012 | 3:11 pm

Mart
says:

Good to hear that grocery management was talking with restaurant management to have the restaurant pay for the molested produce.

Some people can be really inconsiderate douche bags. The culprit has probably been there before and done the same. Buti na lang this time MM was around. Thanks for speaking up MM! Hope that guy gets sacked. Although he’d probably just be scolded or worse; sacked then hired by some other restaurant and then it happens again in some other grocery.

I’m guessing the kurot/pisil behavior stems from the shady wet markets that are still prevalent today. I’m sure everyone is quite familiar with the water plumping and chloroform usage to mask the already spoiling meat.
You can take the shopper out of the wet market but it is hard to take the wet market out of the shopper (especially the shoppers that are old timers).

I agree about all that poking. I do check my purchase by turning over the pieces with tongs, but not to the point of mauling them. Unacceptable. Education. Education is key!

Jan 6, 2012 | 5:29 pm

Lava Bien
says:

@ Blaise, tiga Northern Luzon ‘tong si Uniok. I’ve heard it before (his opinion). Yeah 1 Peso was equal to 1 Dollar before Marcos came into power. The Oligarchs and the Corrupt MInded didn’t want us to become a state of the United States for selfish reasons not the patriotic kind.

I have a pretty good guess of the supermarket in question since I’ve just read your article in a local magazine re: your favorite shops. Just tonight, we were having dinner somewhere along Katipunan and I saw a staff handle one of the store’s merchandise, lick her fingers and then return to handling the merchandise. Tsk tsk.

Jan 7, 2012 | 12:05 am

mimi
says:

I think this is a personal matter, what enrages you more is the fact that you were not taken seriously by the offender (evidenced by continuous poking after na sinaway mo siya) and you took that as “nakakalalake” and did the most biatch thing to do…. call the manager to make sumbong, whine on a blog and “throw the piece of meat to the dogs”.

That’s so juvenile!!! Besides, why would people who are fond of poking want to touch the chicken then wipe their fingers on their pants or skirt. *bleh!* I once called the attention of a lady in her late 20s choosing vegetables in a supermarket then tossing those she didn’t choose just anywhere. I said “Miss, ayusin mo naman ang pag handle mo ng vegetables!” She was in her uniform…she works in a bank. Kasi naman these supermarkets also, the way they stack vegetables, it’s so crowded and seems to communicate to customers that they also don’t have regard to their produce. I think outdoor weekend markets are better for me.

Jan 7, 2012 | 1:03 pm

Marilyn
says:

I wonder how many bouts of salmonella had this dude suffered… judging by his incessant obnoxious behavior… it could be frequent.

Jan 7, 2012 | 3:39 pm

michelle o
says:

I’ve seen this too. And it’s really gross. Last year, I had it with the poking and prodding. That’s why I’ve just started buying all my meat and chicken at Santi’s. It’s behind glass.
Nobody except the guy responsible for the meat can do unnecessarry touching.

Jan 7, 2012 | 5:10 pm

kakusina
says:

Another ditto @ sister.

Jan 7, 2012 | 8:17 pm

Mr Z
says:

Reminds me of my first visits to the local “Hypermarket”, and their meat aisles.

Wife never understood why I gravitated to the pre-wrapped packages. After watching some twenty customers fold, spindle and mutilate the selection at the service counter, I went for the food that was cut and wrapped immediately.

Hey, the kids in the Butcher’s section should have washed their hands at least ONCE that shift, that’s gotta count for something, right? Ugh.

I’ve overcome my reticence, and buy at the open counter too, but am still likely to cringe every time they set a plastic bag on RAW MEAT and proceed to fill my order.

Double-bagging is a must.

Cheers!

Jan 7, 2012 | 11:36 pm

Lava Bien
says:

Fondled chicken? It’s more FUN to buy chicken in the Philippines!
jk hehehe.

I support DOT, at least their trying. It is more fun back home, we are fun people.

Jan 8, 2012 | 2:02 am

wenadoo
says:

this incident is a common scenario at a very popular bread store where you are provided tongs and trays for your bread selection. the breads and pastries are displayed out in the open where some inconsiderate people with no regard whatsoever for hygiene touch and smell the goods on display. i just couldn’t understand why some adults, (mothers at that) allow their children to get near the food products, smell and touch even. tsk, tsk,,,tsk….needless to say, i don’t buy there anymore no matter how i looove their fire floss…

Jan 9, 2012 | 3:35 pm

MoneyCo
says:

What about those dirty supermarket carts and baskets? Do they ever get washed?

Jan 9, 2012 | 9:06 pm

rita
says:

EWWWWWWW! i had to stop after reading the part where the man was poking the plastic wrap of the chicken. not because of the rant, but simply because that IDIOT is contaminating the chicken! UGH! how stupid and ignorant is he? OMG! he surely don’t know how to handle raw meat properly. or just handling food in general. disgusting. just pure disgusting.

Jan 10, 2012 | 4:38 am

cw
says:

I didn’t know there was such a thing as hygiene standards anywhere in the Philippines. I was there on business for 2 months and the filth in even the best places was incredible.

As far as packaged goods go, how ‘safe’ could that possibly be when a live cockroach can be seen wildly trying to find its way out of the package????

Jan 10, 2012 | 6:15 am

star
says:

Last Saturday morning, most likely in the same grocery being referred to by MM. There was this lady opening cartons of Driscoll’s-branded strawberries, taking out the bad/small ones and replacing them with better ones from other cartons. (I’m known in my family to go “psycho” when angry and having been clinically diagnosed with chronic stress, I decided against a confrontation and instead informed a staff about what was happening. I truly hope they did something about it. But just to be safe, I won’t be buying any of those berries anytime soon.)

I guess supermarkets should start considering putting up “idiot boards” to inform idiots the obvious that they’re not suppose to poke at pre-packed goods!

Jan 10, 2012 | 11:16 pm

Ben
says:

I often observed among middle aged filipinos. They have acquired a habit of no decency and devoid of social grace and social etiquette when they are out and about in their grocery shopping. I had numerous encounters with this despicable behavior in Costco. A filipino woman in her 40’s,was browsing through a box of mangoes, the mangoes were packed in 12 a piece in box with plastic transparent tape. She cut those tapes and handpicked the mangoes. She basically rearranged her box to contain the choices fruit. A Caucasian lady stared at her but she stood her ground and went about her business of dissecting all the box. This happened a million times, I was on the same store, a 50 year old filipino man cut in front of me, and there were 6 people at my back waiting for our turns. I’m glad I always get mistaken for a latino, the people at my back rolled their eyes in bewilderment. As soon as he cut me, he started conversing with his wife in bisaya,like nothing happened. Filipinos has this habit of manlamang. That’s why we’re in deep $hit.

Jan 11, 2012 | 3:27 am

Stumpy
says:

A middle-aged English woman opening packaged carrots in a major supermarket in central London to get her pick of choice pieces…it’s not exclusive to Filipinos, Ben. And this happened just a few days ago right in front of me.

Jan 12, 2012 | 4:13 pm

ellen
says:

Thanks for devoting time on this, MM. It’s truly disgusting to see this kind of inconsiderate behavior going on. Unfortunately there are a lot of inconsiderate people everywhere. For me, they should have been asked to buy all the packages they poked holes into. You contaminate it, you buy it.

Jan 12, 2012 | 9:51 pm

James
says:

The store in question should send a bill to the restaurant for the chicken that had to be thrown out.

In my recent trip to Manila, I had the misfortune of buying branded fresh ground pork from a well-known grocery that smelled off when I sauteed it in oil alone. I should have washed them, but I was thinking if is mandatory for ground pork to be washed first before being cooked? Here in Singapore, I do not usually wash them. I was forced to throw the whole half kilo of meat rather than getting a painful bout of gastro.